After dinner and the routine singing of the school song, it was time for bed.
The new students followed their respective House prefects, pushing through the noisy crowd and walking out of the Great Hall.
Entering the dungeons from the right side of the marble staircase on the first floor, they passed through a maze-like gloomy corridor before finally arriving at the Slytherin common room.
The senior prefect led them to a bare, damp stone wall.
"Please remember, entering the common room requires a password. The password changes every two weeks, and the new one will be posted on the notice board."
He looked at the stone wall before him and said, "Sea Serpent."
A stone door hidden within the wall slowly slid open.
The Slytherin common room was a long, narrow, low-ceilinged underground room.
The walls and ceiling were built of rough stone. Round, green-glowing lamps hung from chains attached to the ceiling. Kate knew that this place was originally a dungeon, located under the Black Lake. One could even see the giant squid raised in the lake through the windows.
Honestly, compared to the environments of the other three Houses, this was really too poor.
She wondered if living here too long would cause rheumatism.
Just as Kate wanted to ask about her room location, a female prefect approached her proactively.
"You must be Shafiq? There are nine new female students in Slytherin this year, and you happen to be the odd one out."
"Do you want to bunk with some friends you get along with, or do you want to live in a separate dormitory by yourself?"
So coincidental that she was the odd one out?
Intuition told Kate this was likely the work of a certain White Dark Lord. He was probably still worried that her naturally high magic power might riot again. Just as well; sleeping alone was more convenient.
She pretended to be reserved and shook her head, whispering, "I'll be fine alone, thank you, Senior."
As soon as the words fell, she heard several new girls who were chatting in small groups nearby turn to look at her.
Kate sensed something was wrong the moment she saw their gazes, but she didn't retreat. Instead, she continued to stand there as if she hadn't noticed anything.
Soon, the girls seemed to discuss something and walked over to her. "Shafiq, it's too wasteful for you to occupy a dormitory all by yourself. How about we pick a few people to move in with you?"
What was this? Fighting for turf?
Kate pretended not to understand, shaking her head timidly. "The Head of House has already assigned the dorms; it's better not to change things randomly..."
"As long as you don't say anything, will the Head of House come to the girls' dormitory to check?" the long-haired girl leading them said arrogantly, holding her head high.
Whether Snape would come to the girls' dorms was indeed doubtful. However, in Dumbledore's eyes right now, although she could basically control her magic, she likely still fell into the category of an Obscurus reserve...
Faced with a multiple-choice question between the White Dark Lord and a few girls younger than herself, there was no need to think twice.
"Sorry," she smiled politely, "I still hope to live alone."
Having said that, she intended to go directly to the bedroom to rest.
She just hadn't expected that the girl she refused, face turning red then purple, would glance at her entourage and draw her wand in anger and humiliation. A stream of bluebell-like flames shot toward Kate amidst her incantations.
Malfoy and the others, who were laughing and talking on the other side of the common room, jumped up from their seats in fright when they saw the sparks fly.
"Hey! Shafiq!"
His shout didn't make Kate dodge, but the blue flame didn't land on her either.
"Protego."
A voice so light it was barely audible rang out. Kate turned her head, an invisible shield appearing at the tip of the wand in her hand. The blue flame struck the shield, merely causing it to emit a faint blue glow.
Compared to her first use of the Shield Charm, she could now proficiently control the size of the shield released by her wand. Blocking the opponent's bluebell flames with almost no ripple caused the other students in the lounge, who had been in a spectator mood, to suddenly go quiet.
Kate Shafiq. Actually, wizards from pure-blood families had more or less heard of this name.
Because the Shafiq family back then had refused the mysterious person's recruitment, resulting in the family being almost completely wiped out. The only remaining young girl was taken by the butler to the Muggle world in a sorry state to take refuge, not returning for ten years.
And nine years later, when Kate should have come to Hogwarts, she didn't arrive. This made many people think she was probably a Squib.
For this reason, the parents of many students here had mocked her openly or secretly, saying that the once-flourishing Shafiq family had no successor.
Who could have known that in the second year, this little Shafiq would return to the magical world. Although a year late, she was still a wizard. This meant the Shafiq family still had hope of revitalization.
This made other pure-blood families, who had already encroached upon many of the Shafiq family's assets, begin to feel uneasy again.
So tonight's provocation, no matter the excuse, was inevitable. If this Kate were just a cowardly girl, that would be one thing.
But just now, this girl who was once mistaken by the outside world for a Squib had lightly used the Shield Charm that many adults couldn't even use.
A twelve-year-old little witch enrolling on her first day could easily cast such a spell; it was enough to show her talent.
Amidst the silence in the room, Kate's gaze quickly swept over all the students, finally landing on the female prefect from before.
"Senior," she walked over with a smile, "Student brawling in private should be against school rules, right?"
The female prefect snapped out of it, looking hesitantly at the new student who had attacked first. "Um... private brawling will result in confinement."
"Then I'll trouble Senior to tell the Head of House and let him handle it." Kate raised an eyebrow. "Of course, if the Head of House thinks I was also at fault, I am willing to accept punishment."
Perhaps what Slytherin students disliked most was detention. After all, they had to face the gloomy-faced Snape every day. Even if he didn't deduct points, he wouldn't give you a pleasant look.
Kate finished speaking and looked at the girl who had attacked her, whose face was now pale.
"By the way, perhaps during detention, you can propose to the Professor that you move into my dorm. Maybe he will agree."
Having said that, she almost couldn't hold back her amusement. Under everyone's gaze, she slowly turned and went back to her bedroom.
As soon as she closed the door, Kate couldn't help but sigh.
If it weren't for trying not to attract Dumbledore's attention too much, she wouldn't have used this method that would arouse public anger.
In student days, who likes a tattletale?
However, maybe this would produce some other effect...
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